Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 98-05-05

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr>

NEWS IN ENGLISH

Athens, Greece, 05/05/1998 (ANA)

MAIN HEADLINES

• Greece, Albania sign health agreement
• Police make record haul of contraband cigarettes
• Greece cooperating with U.S. on copyright
• Athens supports Clerides statement
• Athens rejects Turkish PKK protest
• PM briefs president on euro summit
• Defence minister speaks at WEU meeting
• Zakynthos attracts more tourists
• Metro 71 percent complete, Laliotis says
• Greece to give EU updated convergence plan
• Athens regrets lack of progress on Cyprus problem
• Orthodox Churches condemn schismatic tendencies
• Gov't comments on church-state affaitrs
• Petition on separation of Church and state
• Gov't: Flight plans must be filed to prevent interceptions
• Greece to focus on human rights during CoE presidency
• Greek bourse president resigns for personal reasons
• Kavala airport to replace Thessaloniki's for a week
• Greece to take part in Bulgarian trade fair
• Weather
• Foreign exchange

NEWS IN DETAIL

Health Minister Costas Geitonas is presently visiting Tirana in the context of an official visit to consult with members of the Albanian government on developing cooperation between the two countries' health ministries. Albania and Greece today signed a two-year agreement which provides for the development of joint research programmes and cooperation between research centres on issues of mutual interest.

Police make record haul of contraband cigarettes

Thessaloniki police and officers of the special squad recently set up to fight financial crime said today that they have made the biggest ever seizure in Greece of contraband cigarettes which would have cost the state 3 billion drachmas in lost revenue if sold on the black market. The haul is so big, estimated at over five million packets, that the police are still counting the boxes of cigarettes seized on Sunday afternoon.

Greece cooperating with U.S. on copyright

Greece is working with the United States on the issue of copyright and hopes that a solution will be found to the mutual benefit of both sides, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said today. Reppas said the government would confer on the issue with U.S. Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns. The U.S. last week said it would begin World Trade Organisation dispute settlement procedures after Greece had failed to curb "high rates" of piracy of U.S.-owned films and programmes by television stations.

Athens supports Clerides statement

The Greek government fully supports a statement by Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides expressing disappointment with a number of statements by U.S. presidential envoy for Cyprus Richard Holbrooke, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said today. President Clerides's evaluation is "completely objective," Reppas told reporters. Clerides on Monday said Holbrooke had misinterpreted his position on intercommunal talks and stressed he had never ceased to represent the Republic of Cyprus.

Athens rejects Turkish PKK protest

The government said today that Greece had rejected a verbal protest from Turkey concerning the supposed operation of a Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) office in Athens. Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said the protest had been made to Greece's Ambassador in Ankara, Dimitrios Nezeritis. Replying to reporters' questions, Reppas dismissed Turkish claims that the home of ruling PASOK party deputy Costas Badouvas is being used by the PKK for its headquarters in Greece as "provocation, wild imagination and concoctions of the Turks so that they can hurl accusations against Greece which are devoid of all objective basis".

PM briefs president on euro summit

Prime Minister Costas Simitis today described as "very important" the weekend EU summit that formalised the launching of economic and monetary union (EMU) as of January 1999 with 11 member states. After a 45-minute meeting with President Costis Stephanopoulos, whom Simitis briefed on the summit talks and decisions, the Premier said: "The summit took imporant decisions. The framework of Europe's course to EMU is now crystal clear, and so is the framework of what we must do and the timetable for doing it."

Defence minister speaks at WEU meeting

The Western European Union (WEU) must develop in tandem with NATO and not in opposition to the Alliance, Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said today, according to an ANA dispatch from Madrid. "The principle of compatibility and joint - and not separate - use of available means and facilities must be maintained," Tsohatzopoulos told a meeting of WEU parliamentary assembly in Madrid. The WEU and NATO plan their first-ever joint exercise for the year 2000. Greece will be hosting a two-day WEU defence and foreign ministers' meeting on Rhodes which begins next Monday.

Zakynthos attracts more tourists

Tourism to the island of Zakynthos is expected to show an increase of 15-20 percent this year against 1997, according to local authorities. The island was recently visited by travel agents from several countries for bookings. Zakynthos airport officials told the ANA that during this year's tourist season, which will run until November 1, approximately 16-20 charter flights would be carried out daily.

Metro 71 percent complete, Laliotis says

Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Costas Laliotis said today that 71 percent of the Athens Metro had been completed, as Jason the metro-mouse reached the planned station at Neos Kosmos underneath the old Fix brewery on Syngrou avenue. The tunnel-boring machine (TBM) nicknamed Jason, which reached the Neos Kosmos station after after boring 600 metres of tunnel, is due to begin boring the tunnel to the Analatos station in Neos Kosmos at the end of the month. A second TBM, "Persephone", will start drilling the tunnel from the Daphni station to Analatos at about the same time. Laliotis also said that the first two of 38 Metro trains would be delivered on June 20.

Greece to give EU updated convergence plan

Greece will submit a revised economic convergence plan to the European Union by the end of May linked to the country's planned adoption of the euro on January 1, 2001. The new plan to align with other EU economies will carry an extension to 2000 and take into account a 13.8 percent devaluation of the drachma effected on March 14, National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said yesterday.

Athens regrets lack of progress on Cyprus problem

Greece yesterday expressed "regret and disappointment" with the lack of progress for the protracted Cyprus problem due to Turkish intransigence. Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas, who made the statement, also noted that the terms posed by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash during talks US presidential envoy for Cyprus Richard Holbrooke held in Nicosia over the weekend with the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot sides were unacceptable and could not be considered for discussion.

Orthodox Churches condemn schismatic tendencies

Representatives from all of the world's Orthodox Churches decided during a recent conference in Thessaloniki to condemn schismatic factions that have recently sprung up within the ranks of some Orthodox Churches. Representatives at the conference also decided on a common stance at the 7th General Assembly of the International Council of the Churches, which will take place in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Gov't comments on Church-state affairs

Relations between the church and state are defined by the Constitutionand laws, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas underlined yesterday in answer to statements by new Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos. The spokesman further said that the government and political parties were exercising their policy by placing national interests above all.

Petition on separation of church and state

Sixty public figures, including deputies, Eurodeputies, former ministers, university professors, artists, publishers and journa-lists, have signed a text calling for the separation of church and state. The text is signed, among others, by former New Democracy minister Andreas Andrianopoulos, Eurodeputy Anna Karamanou, deputies Petros Kounalakis and Spyros Danellis, professor Giorgos Veltsos and veteran left-wing politician Leonidas Kyrkos.

Gov`t: flight plans must be filed to prevent interceptions

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas yesterday stated that the Hellenic Air Force will intercept any and all aircraft that do not submit previous flight plans for the Athens FIR. He added that in cases that the relevant flight information is provided, the air force will not intercept, as was the practice last year during NATO's "Distant Thunder" military exercises in certain parts of the Aegean.

Greece to focus on human rights during CoE presidency

Greece will place emphasis on upgrading the role of the European Court of Human Rights, the protection of human rights, cooperation between Council of Europe member-states on refugee problems and the issue of illegal immigration, Alternate Foreign Ministe r George Papandreou said yesterday. Greece takes over the presidency of the Council of Europe today, at a special ceremony in Strasbourg, when the German presidency hands over the reins.

Greek bourse president resigns for personal reasons

Manolis Xanthakis, the Athens Stock Exchange chairman, has resigned from his post citing personal reasons. National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou yesterday accepted his resignation, which was submitted on January 1. Mr. Papantoniou announced that Stavros Kouniakis, the governor of Macedonia-Thrace Bank, would succeed him in the post.

Kavala airport to replace Thessaloniki's for a week

Kavala's Alexander the Great airport will go international for a week due to runway maintenance that is likely to close northern Greece's main airport in Thessaloniki. Under a decision by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Olympic Airways, Kavala's airport will handle about 50 flights daily between May 8 and 14.

Greece to take part in Bulgarian trade fair

Greece has the third largest number of participants in this year's consumer goods and machinery trade fair in Plovdiv, hosting 1,400 companies from 32 countries.

The 42 Greek companies and organisations taking part include the Greek National Tourism Organisation, Hellenic Sugar Industry, and Casa Due furniture manufacturers.

The broad range of goods on show include metallurgical products, electrical appliances, clothes and textiles, and construction and decoration materials.

WEATHER

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

(M.P.)

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